■ MEDIA
Chinese journalists approved
Taiwan opened its doors to regional media outlets in China on Thursday, granting approval to a television station and a newspaper group from China’s Fujian Province to post journalists in Taiwan. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) gave a green light to the applications filed by DongNan TV and the Fujian Daily Group, allowing journalists from the TV station and from three affiliated newspapers of the Fujian Daily Group to cover news in Taiwan for up to three months per visit.
■ POLITICS
Lai visits protester
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) and legislators Twu Shiing-jer (??, Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) and Wang Sing-nan (王幸男) visited 80-year-old Liu Po-yan (劉柏煙) at National Taiwan University Hospital yesterday. Liu, who suffered second and third degree burns on 80 percent of his body on Tuesday after setting himself on fire in a protest at Liberty Square, was still in critical condition in the hospital’s intensive care unit yesterday, hospital officials said. DPP legislators donated cash to Liu’s family and told them that if they couldn’t afford the treatment costs, DPP members would help raise money. “At first, we were afraid [Liu’s family] would be offended by our visit, because we are DPP and Liu is not … But we felt we needed to [visit], especially since no one from the KMT went [to see him],” Tien said.
■ POLITICS
DPP official detained
Former Democratic Progressive Party legislator Lin Wen-lang (林文郎) was detained by Taichung prosecutors yesterday on suspicion of manipulating stock prices. Prosecutors were investigating another case of alleged stock manipulation concerning investor Chang Shih-chieh (張世傑) when they discovered Lin’s alleged crime. Prosecutors said evidence suggested Lin worked with Chang to manipulate the stock price of Ching Me Ke Long Chemical Co (金美克能化工公司), a cosmetics manufacturer. Prosecutors said Lin had given evidence on part of the case and they were trying to locate other potential witnesses and defendants.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
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